Endless-belt ore-concentrator.



E. A. WALL. ENDLESSQBELT ORE GONGENTRATOR. urmoumu'rriz'n rmm, 1911 BEN 1,033,219.

EWED SEPT. 16, 1811 Patented July 23, 1912-.

I To all whom it may concern:

f pulp thereon.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

ENOS A. WALL, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

ENDLESS-BELT ORE-CONCENTRATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1912'.

Application filed February 8,1911, Serial no. 607,328. Renewed September. 16, 1911. Serial No. 649,735.

Be it known that I, Enos A. WALL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at- Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Endless- Belt Ore-Concentrators, of which the following is aspecifi'cation.

My invention relates to endlessbelt 'ore concentrators. As usually-constructed these endless concentrators travel upwardly under a feed box which discharges the water and The objection to endless concentratorswhich travel upwardly under the feed to discharge the concentrates. at the top or head ofthe machine is that the material concentrated on the surface of the belt by the downwardly flowing water is pollutedafid again mixed with the unconcentrated pulp flowing from the feed box so that the material discharged at the upper end of the belt contains alarge amount of gangue. Various means of applying lateral oscillation to this class of belts have also been employed and concentrating surfaces of all sorts have been used Without satis-' centrated material will not be again mixed with the pulp being fed to thebelt and will be discharged at the lower end of the belt where the water and .gangue are also discharged but without their becoming mixed.

A further object is to impart to such a downwardly traveling endless concentrator a differential longitudinal reciprocatory movement to cause the concentrates to move toward the head.

A further object: is to provide such a concentrator with a working surface formed of a serles of flat, imrrliled, horizontal surfaces in step-like order-,, the lower or dis;

charge edge of'one step being spaced above and projecting over the upper or rear edge of the next stp'below, and the rear orupper edges of all the steps being secured to the belt and vertical walls or risersbeing the're provided against which the concen- "trated material will be moved by the bumping or jarring action and said vertically d18- posed walls or risers constituting supports cross piece or strip E for the projecting edges of the overlying I steps or planes.

These objects I accomplish by the construetion shown in the accompanying drawings in wh1ch- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an endless ore concentrator containing my improvements; Fig; 2 is a detail sectional view; Fig. 3 is a detail plan thereof; Fig. 4' is a detail longitudinal section of a modification.

A designates the foundation to which is hinged the head end of a frame-work B,

the tail end of which is adjustable vertically by means of underlying wedges B,"

provided with adjusting screws B one only being shown. the frame B is provided. with an inclined portion 13 having a series of rollers I), mounted thereon. Upon the, rollers Z) is mountedthe inclined reciprocating concen- The upper portion of tratorframe C, provided at its ends with transverse rollers C, C mounted in suitable bearmgs c, c, as shown in Fig. 1. Around the-rollers C1, C passes the endless concentrator belt D, with its upper run supported on rollers C, mounted in bearings c on the upper side of the reciprocating frame 0. The upper or head endzroller C is driven by a pulley 0' from the belt 0 The concentrating surface of the belt D,

is formed by a series of horizontal steps with unobstructed surfaces so that the flow down the steps willbe unimpeded by any form of riflles, dams, or recesses. These stepped surfaces are formed by horizontal plates or strips E, of metal, wood, linoleum I or other material suitable for the purpose. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, the steps are provided with upturned sides 6 to retain the -material from lateral displacement, and the steps or plates are secured by cross pieces or angle strips E, extending across the upper sides and riveted or otherwise fastened to the belt D, as shown in Fig. 2. The lower end of one step or plate E, rests upon the next below so' that while the belt D extends "down at an angle the steps willall lie in substantially horizontal planes and the'strips or cross pieces E will form the risers or vertical walls of the steps. beyond the strips E ,so that there is acousiderahle overhang. The purpose of this overhang is to rovide a protected s ace or pocket under t e discharge edge' 0 every The ste s or plates E project step within which the concentrate will-be- (l. The lower edges of these curtains conthe machine and F forced by the differential reciprocation of the concentrator frame and belt, as the heavier particles of mineral drop by gravity from one step to the other; the water and lighter material falling from one step to the other. at points beyond where the heavier concentrates fall. The steps or plates E are somewhat narrower at their forward or discharge edges in order that they may have an ea y telescoping fit one within the other.

F designates a frame atthe head end of is a bumper post thereon.

G designates a vertically extending lever pivoted at its lower end to a horizontal, ad justable screw rod Gr, mounted in a block g, and provided at opposite sides thereof with nuts 9, g, by adjusting which the throw of the lever may be adjusted. From the head end of the table a rod H extends through a slot in the bumper post to the lever G, to

. which it is pivoted. A spring 12 is mounted on the rod H, between the bumper post and lever G, and the tension of the spring may be regulated by a nut It. Between the head. end of the concentrator frame C, and the bumpenpostF, the rod H is provided with it a bumper k The upper end of the lever G is actuated by a rotary cam J. i

If desired the steps or plates E may be of the same width and run between side strips K, which will prevent the material from flowing from the sides' of the steps, butI prefer the construction shown in Fig. 2. Each plate extends the full width of the belt or about siX feet while from front to rear edge the plates are about six inches and the height .of the strips E, is about three eigh'ths of an inch. L, designates a series of curtains of suitable material suspended from rods L, extending over the steps or plates with their ends mounted in upright arms L secured to the opposite sides of the concentrator frame tact with the upper surface of the flowjng stream and so break its surface tension thereby causing the lightest valuable particles which float on the surface of the water to sink and become deposited with the bottom strata or concentrated.

In operation the frame C is adjusted to incline downwardly from the head or feed end to the tail or discharge end so that the plates P], will lie in substantially horizontal planes and the water and pulp will be discharged from the feed box K, uponv the head end of the downwardly traveling series of plates. The cam J, will, through lever G and rod H, move the concentrator frame (7, and endless concentrator carried thereby slowly toward the tail end, thiis compressing the spring i1. As soon as the cam releases the lever G, the spring will plate,

suddenly throw theconcentrator upwardly toward the head until the bumper 7i strikes post F. The water andpulp will flow down the steps faster than the downwardmovement of the belt and the water will move the mass gently down over the surfaces of the plates in such manner that the mass will be kept in constant rolling motion'and this will cause the mineral contents to settle by specific gravity through the lighter gangue down into contact with the plates whence it will be gently pushed forward by the overlying flowing water and gangue to the end of the when by reason of its superior specific gravity the mineral particles will fall vertically down upon the head end of the next step below and back of the pointwhere the water and lighter material will fall and the bumping action toward the head Will carry this heavier mineral matter back toward the head and under the overhang. The concentrates will be held under the overhangs until in the downward travel of the belt the plates reach the tail end and turn down around. the lower roller at which point a spray p'ipe S, is placed to spray the plates and cause the poncentratcs to be dislodged and drop into a suitable receptacle or chute-T. The water and tailings will be dis charged beyond the discharge point of the concentrates as shown in Fig. 1 and be carried off by a second chuteT.

Having thuscdescribed my invention what I claim is: r

1. An ore concentrator comprising, an inclined frame, an endless belt mounted thereon and traveling down toward the tail or lower end of the frame, parallel horizontally disposed plates mounted trans-' versely on the belt in descending step-like order with the lower free edge of one plate or step extending over the riser of the next one below, and down which steps the water and pulp fiow in the direction "of movement of the belt, means for operating the belt, and means for imparting a differential, longitudinal, reciprocation to the inclined frame to progress the concentrates against therisers of the steps; whereby the concentrates along the risers will be carried to the lower end of the belt by its travel and there discharged from the successive steps in rear of the point of discharge of the flowing water-and gangue.

2. An ore concentrator comprising, an inclined frame, an endless belt mounted thereon and traveling down toward the tail or lower end of the frame, parallel horizontally disposed channel plates secured at their head ends to the belt and overlapping at their lower or free ends the next plate below, cross-picces or risers at the head. ends of the plates and over which the discharge edges of the overlying plates-project; the plates and risers forming a series ofsteps j 5 atthe upper end of the belt, and mechanism In testnnony whereof I affix my signature descending from the head to the; tail and the belt by its travel and there discharged down which the pulp and water flow, means from the successive steps in rear of the point for causing the belt to travel downwardly of discharge cf the flowing water i and with the feed Water and pulp, a feed supply gangue.

for imparting a diflerential, longitudinal re in presence of twp witnesses. ciprocation to the inclined frame to progress a ENOS A.-WALL. the concentrates against the risers of the Witnesses: steps; whereby the concentrates along the A. M. PARKINS, 4 10 risers will be carried to the lower end of GEQLI-LEvANs. 

